NASCAR and FOX have talked about SPEED televising some Cup series races...SceneDaily.com | Posted June 20, 2011 Charlotte, NC

Article by Tripp Mickle and John Ourand scenedaily.com

FOX has held informal discussions with NASCAR about a new TV rights agreement that would allow the network to put some of its Sprint Cup races on SPEED.

David Hill, FOX Sports chairman, said FOX would like to see some of the 13 regular-season races it televises on SPEED. A FOX source said the company could ask for as many as six races for the network.

Fox is five years into an eight-year, $1.76 billion contract with NASCAR that mandates FOX televise all of its Sprint Cup races on its broadcast channel except for two non-points, specialty events – the Sprint All-Star Race and the Gatorade Duels from Daytona, which air on SPEED. If it wants to move regular-season Cup races to SPEED before its contract expires in 2014, it would have to amend its agreement. FOX sources were skeptical such a move would be made before the contract ends.

“It would be very good for SPEED to put Cup races there,” Hill said. “You can see that when the All-Star Race is on it, and I’d like to put another couple of races on SPEED if we can. That’s just part of the dialogue, so we’ll see.”

Steve Herbst, NASCAR vice president of broadcasting, said in a statement that NASCAR is in constant discussions with its partners but he declined to address the specifics of the FOX conversations.

The talks come a year after NASCAR agreed to let ESPN shift the majority of its Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship coverage from ABC to ESPN. Ratings on ESPN, which showed 14 races, and ABC, which showed three races, dropped 14 percent following that move. A similar viewership decline likely would follow if races moved from FOX to SPEED, which is distributed in 78 million homes. The Sprint All-Star Race on SPEED this year averaged a 3.3 final Nielsen rating and 4 million viewers, which more than quadrupled the network’s average prime-time audience. By comparison, FOX averaged a 5.0 final Nielsen rating and 8.6 million viewers for its 13 regular-season Sprint Cup telecasts.

Hill said that FOX always intended to carry Sprint Cup races on SPEED, which Fox launched in 2002 after acquiring the channel, then named Speedvision, from Comcast and Cox. The company carried some Cup races on its cable channel FX during its initial 2001-05 rights agreement with NASCAR.

The move would allow SPEED to use live NASCAR broadcasts to increase the license fee that cable and satellite operators pay each month, which is currently around 30 cents, according to sources. The move would amplify SPEED’s on-air promotion of NASCAR races during the week and allow it to keep an audience of NASCAR enthusiasts tuning in for everything from news programs to the wrapup of that weekend’s race.

The move also makes sense for FOX, which would be able to spread highly rated sports content across two channels: one broadcast and one cable.

In addition to talking about putting Sprint Cup races on SPEED, FOX has raised the possibility of making NASCAR a stakeholder in SPEED and turning it into a joint-venture project. Sources familiar with those conversations said that they have been ongoing for several years.

By partnering with NASCAR on SPEED, FOX could avoid competing with the property if it decided to launch its own channel. NASCAR Media Group opened a $43 million facility in downtown Charlotte in 2010. The facility has four floors of studio and production space and an extensive digital archive that would allow NASCAR to start its own network if it chose to do so. The assumption is that it wouldn’t make that decision until after its current broadcast agreements end in 2014.

“SPEED is the default NASCAR network, and it might be logical to assume they might have certain aspirations to a channel,” Hill said. He added that the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball have their own networks, and NASCAR is in the same class as those leagues.

Hill downplayed the joint venture talks. He said that he and NASCAR President Mike Helton casually discuss a variety of opportunities when they get together to shoot skeet at Helton’s ranch in the Southeast.

“The great thing about this business is it’s always fluid,” Hill said.

“There’s any given number of possibilities.”

JMO: The main reason I have dish is for my SPEED channel. I watch it lots. But since it has become an issue as to whether we can keep paying for dish and dsl, it has brought it home that lots of folks don't have access to SPEED. I think putting more races of dish/cable stations will just cause us to loose more fans.

got rid of our dish the day the contract was up....1st time we ever had it

we get lots of stations from our very tall antennae, we live 2 hours from indy and chicago....get ALL their free stations.

but to be honest, I feel better about not paying for television after a 2 year stint of dish. Found out I wasn't missing much.

I mean, why pay for tv when there is only crap on most of the time (reality tv shows where everyone yells at each other), when you can get free tv that has only crap on it most of the time? (springer, all the court shows, and the stupid soap operas)

plus, I can listen to the races, and get more real time info from the radio broadcast, they have a lot of people working the pits, the turns, and the straights, and they are all miked up. That's how I started following racing & sports, and it's much more exciting.

13 years ago, I had Primestar (satillite). Direct TV bought them out and changed me over for free. Before that I had 3 local channels (even with a power booster) cause I live in the toolies. The reception was horrible too. I don't like Dish (my friend has it) I love my Directv and now that I am a long time customer, I get all kind of freebies. They appreciate my business.I wish it was free BUT, that's capitalism and I am glad to pay for all the neat channels I get. Especially now that I am retired. That's just my situation and I appreciate everyones opinion about it. Have Great Day All !!

Those who intentionally live off another’s labor will always want more free stuff!

I have Comcast... and have to pay extra for an additional package*** that has the Speed Channel IN it... but also have to pay $7.95 a month, just to have the Speed Channel. It makes me VERY angry... but I feel the Speed Channel is worth it. I watch most of the NASCAR shows on it.

*** Inside the additional package is other channels like Cinemax, National Geographic, the Military Channel and a few others. I try to watch the heck out of those shows too, just to get my monthly money's worth! LOL

Over the years I think some networks do the races better than others. I like ESPN's & TNT versions... and think ABC SUCKS! ABC needs to just turn it over to ESPN, as they do all the work for them anyway. Fox is just OK, in my opinion.

Somewhere it was talked about having a NASCAR channel that you have to pay for like Speed TV. All the NASCAR race stuff would be on that channel.

I have to pay to receive Speed on top of having to rent the converter box (jerold box) in order to even get the Speed TV in the first place, PLUS I also have to pay more to receive more channels, so I'm triple paying just to be able to view Speed TV. All because I have an old floor model TV & just can't part with it.

One day I'll get one of them good flat screens. We have a mid grade in our room we got early this year. It gets dark if you're not looking at it at the right angle.

Smoke
"We know that Mother Nature is a woman. If she were a man, there would be no rain on race day."

BeaverPond is lucky,in upstate Ny.i have Time Warner cable and have to pay extra for the sports channels like Speed,NHL,Vs ect.and i'm also paying for channels i don't want because you have to also pay for extended basic to get it. What ever Station they decide to go with,i'm sure it will be all filled with commercials and it's getting to the point,i really can't get that much into it anymore.What i'd really like to see over Nascar is the WOO and Speed has only shown one race so far this year.The Truck series doesn't race enough,the NW and Cup series has become a freakin drama rather than racing and it's the same old follow the leader most the time.The "Have At It Boys" is another big joke,let alone changing just about everything Nascar once was when it was sponsored by Winston,#### i'm even getting bored with this.

There are three others, count them three that I would have to pay for...but with all of these options, who cares.

Yep,we get all that and pay extra for it and other than racing and NHL,i don't watch a bit of the rest of them.The real thing that makes me jealous is i love Maine and can't stand NewYork,upstate or downstate, and i grew up in Massachussetts,so it must be the NewEngland thing for me i miss.

My mother and I are huge Yankees fans in the middle of Red Sox Nation. It can be a lot of fun though at times. Especially the years when the Yankees are doing well and right now ain't it, but they usually seem to kick it into high gear after the All-Star Break.

In Honor of my nephew serving our country out of Baumholder Army Base in Germany.

After reading some of these posts, I called Directv to see if I could get anything free...lol,,, Surprise, surprise... 3 months ago when I called they offered me Showtime for Free for 3 months if I didn't take off Starz.( I was adding Showtime, already had Starz) This time, they gave me the reverse and gave me 3 free months of Starz if I kept Showtime and ONE other deal, they are taking $5 off my basic package for 3 months too. Yippeee!! ( 2 for 1 deal) I realize that they give me these perks because I have been a good customer for 13 years, but really folks, all you have to do is ASK.. They'll give you SOMETHING everytime. I just asked what I could get for Free.. he got ahold of his supervisor and came back with this deal. Only 1 time did I ever have to ask for a supervisor when the person said NO... It's worth a try even if you have Dish. I don't think cable gives deals, but I don't know anyone with cable to ask. GO FOR IT !!!! It was sure worth my 15 minutes on the phone for this. Good Luck !!!

Those who intentionally live off another’s labor will always want more free stuff!